Wacom Announces the Cintiq 24HD

As someone who lives in a Cintiq household, I know well how highly this is anticipated. Wacom made the official announcement today for their Cintiq 24HD. The first thing one notices is the sexy new counterweighted stand that allows for adjustable height and angling of the screen. Here are some of the key under-the-hood specs:

pretty nondescript video, but looks sexy I’d like to know if the line still lags behind the pen like in the old models

http://robertkohr.com Rob Kohr

Thats your rig not the tablet…

JKR

I’m not sure why, but I burst out laughing at the “clearly not an animator” line in the text. Priceless! And so true, as the most amusing things are…

We are an odd bunch, that’s for sure.

As for this new Cintiq, I absolutely adore my 21″ Cintiq and have no reason to upgrade, but it’s nice to see they’re making things bigger and better for the future when I might need to. Of all the tools I own, the Cintiq is second only to my light table in terms of usefulness. I adore it, and it was absolutely worth the money that took years to save up.

SeanP

Does it rotate..?

ShouldBeWorkin’

Thought the same. That would be great. Which artists do they consult? For the ease of arm strokes, I would think that would be a great feature no matter what kind of artist.

I just noticed the weight on this bad boy. 63.8 pounds with the stand? That’s a heavy unit.Why so heavy?

http://www.lifeintheanalogage.com Gabe Swarr

They should be working on a bluetooth pen for the iPad that tracks pressure sensitivity and cancels out all other inputs while using the pen.
C’mon Wacom, let’s get it together!

Jim M

Gabe :

Wacom can’t do that. You can’t have an outside device disable multitouch.

It has to be built into the app, and even then it couldn’t be triggered by the presence of a Wacom pen. The Wacom iPad pen mimics a finger in order to do it’s job.

http://www.lifeintheanalogage.com Gabe Swarr

You could still have pressure sensitivity built into the pen via bluetooth though right?

Jim M

As far as I know, yup. Looking at component costs, my guess is that it would be a ~$100 pen though.

http://beesbuzz.biz/ fluffy

Also Wacom relies on an active sensor grid within the screen itself. They could possibly do it as an overlay to the iPad but that would add a lot of thickness and weight.

There’s a few Android tablets with active Wacom pens in them, although they haven’t been reviewed very well. If you really want a portable Wacom-enabled device your best (well, least-bad) bet is probably a tablet PC or an Axion ModBook or similar.

Chris Sobieniak

Hmmm, I think I’ll just stick to pencil and paper for now!

http://www.theindependentanimator.com/ The Independent Animator

63.8 pounds?! Sheesh, that IS a beast! I’m afraid I need something a bit more portable than that….

Steve Gattuso

As a computer tech, it’s difficult for me to think of anything that big to be all that portable in the first place. 24 inches for the screen, plus two inches on each side for control surfaces is a tad bigger than any laptop I’ve ever seen. The counter-weighted stand takes up a big chunk of that weight, so it could be removed for portability, but then I’d say the problem is that your average laptop would slow to a halt trying to drive the sucker.

And at that price, would you WANT to risk carrying it around?

Charles

finally, a good way to draw cars. i bet the cars 3 production team is in heaven right now.

david

and i bet it still scratches from felt nibs. Didn’t want to fix that huh WACOM!?!? weeniecom.

http://dltad.blogspot.com A.M.Bush

I’ll take two please.

http://cargocollective.com/jonbento Jonathan

Here in Brazil this won’t cost less than 10.000 DOLLARS the Cintq 21 here in brazil costs 5.200 DOLLARS and there costs around 2.000

remember YOU are lucker enough, and never say that is expensive!

Here in SÃ£o Paulo the biggest and richest city in brazil the life cost is like new york city, BUT we are payd 38% LESS then you!

so, just be happy because there you can have one with some hard work, and in here, with all your extra hard work, you can still not buying one.

luca

ho come on! stop whining, there A LOT of cheap options, you can order cintiq knock offs from china for less than 1000$ from any part of the world. and yes, if your main purpose is drawing they are just as good. even amazon has a bunch of cheap options, search for

P-Active 19 LCD Monitor Pen Tablet

or

Yiynova Tablet LCD MSP19

there are always options. you live in sao paulo?! you are lucky!! most beautiful women in the world..

http://www.jengarza.com JenGarza

It’s so perfect.

…I feel like crying.

http://popyea.deviantart.com/ nick

cool, i’ll reevaluate whether or not i can afford an older model now.

wgan

hope they will drop the price for the older model

Steve Gattuso

That’s almost a certainty.

Don Adams

A bigger screen? Big deal.

Non-scratchable screen please!!!

secret goldfish

The reason this weighs so much is the counterweight of the base which sits on your desk and allows the Cintiq to hang over the edge of the table.

Being able to get your legs under the Cintiq and therefore be closer to the board was a problem of the old design/stand. I got around it by mounting my Cintiq into a custom made angled drawing desk but this new design (while heavy) is a nicer solution to get closer to the board.

Non-scratchable screen isn’t necessary if you attach the included acetate overlay to the Cintiq from day one, it is actually a nice heavy textured but transparent acetate which is nicer to slide a pen across than overly smooth glass, the acetate not only protects the glass but being textured, feels closer to drawing on paper than the glass.

Rotation, I never used it on my 21″ was much easier to rotate in software (Photoshop/Painter), then again I’m a lefty and draw with an awkward rotated claw like grip anyway.

I bought my 21″ Cintiq early on when they originally released them. Wacom the company were actually really helpful, I rang them the day they announced the 21″, they took my name and details then called me as soon as their first demo model arrived in the country. When I arrived at their office they were only then just un-boxing and setting it up, I hung about and toyed with it for over an hour before placing an order, (they wouldn’t sell me the demo model) I’m still contently using it daily all these years later.

I won’t be buying the new 24HD model simply because the 21″ is still going strong.
If you are interested though contact Wacom and organise a demo, I’m pretty sure they realise that they have to go out of their way to sell expensive niche products like these, there was no way I was going to part with $2500 without trying it out first.

Priory

TAKE MY MONEY NOW

Toonio

There is no added value to an old light table, an scanner and a computer. Like Eric G. :)

Yep, it’s fancy, flashy and cool but so what?

http://robertkohr.com Rob Kohr

Seriously? I guess you have never used one. I work the “old school way” several years ago, using a cintiq cut 75% out of my time between scanning flipping a testing I would always use a digital tablet over paper.

Dino

So scanning suuuuuuuuuuuucks. I take your point– the Cintiq ain’t magic– but saying that there’s “no added value” is overstating it. The Cintiq gives you the ability to make, fix, wrangle, and test your drawings without breaking your flow. Pretty dang nice.

As for the no-scratch screen, I say slap a protective film on there. I went with Photodon and am glad I did. The surface even has a little tooth to it compared to the semi-slippery Cintiq glass.

All that said, I don’t see any reason to jump on this new model. It’s bigger, but 21″ (1600x1200p) is already pretty f-ing big. Bring the pen-tracking technology to a new level and I’ll reach for my credit card.

The Gee

“Bring the pen-tracking technology to a new level and I’ll …”

It’s probably still too early in the A.M. for me but all I can think of now is the stylus doubling as a light saber….or to somehow function as a remote or a grabber to get more coffee, donuts or soda.

What new technology advances do you have in mind?

Right now, I would think that the maximum pressure/tilt/etcetera still is not fully exploited. And, that may very well be the fault of software applications not utilizing it.

The display/drawing surface probably still has room for growth. Costly room for growth if you are a frequent buyer but someday it would affordable if you don’t currently have a Cintiq.

Michael Hughes

Why does Amid have a Cintiq? Is he an artist too?

The Gee

Enh. As much as he mentioned it, don’t give it too much consideration.

He wrote that he lives in a household which has a Cintiq. So at best it is probably good, or at most, significant, to say he doesn’t walk alone…and leave it at that.

I guess that which matters most is that he is aware and is a friend of artists, obviously. That’s why he qualified making the statement and putting up the post.

still too bulky for me. I figure in ten years they will make the one I want

Celia

Wow,I have to get this Cintiq. Whatever you draw comes to life. Look at all the sports cars that guy in the video has!

Gerard de Souza

I may never have this, but I tell ya, to anyone who’s tried a Cintiq it is so nice to put down a line digitally and get it right the first time. That alone makes me realize how much time is wasted trying to get strokes right even on a good tablet. Don’t own one but I’ve tried the 12″ and a 21 for a few seconds each.

Nate Wragg

Honestly, until they are able to get these devises to be color corrected or accurately color calibrated, for me there is just no reason to get excited. While all the new and refined bells and whistles are nice, the colors are never accurate on these monitors. And as one of the many artists today who are forced to work digitaly by the studios, to me the lack of color correcting features remains a problem that needs to be addressed before they figure out a new way to make it spin or dance.

http://www.frankpanucci.com Frank Panucci

The ability to calibrate color is claimed for this model.
Unfortunately, it costs as much as a nice fifteen-year-old Corolla.

luca

just have 2 monitors, the cintiq for drawing/painting and the other one for checking your colors. works for me.

http://arschblog.blogspot.com Steffi-Alien

Too big and heavy and too expensive(we artists are not made of money)!-.-
Would be cool if it would be a bit smaller and thinner, so that you can put it in a bag(like an I-pad).

But even so, I still prefer my sketch-books and pens.:3

http://awprunes.com Larry Levine

I’m sticking with my trusty Blackwing 602 and animation paper.

http://www.lawrencejackson.com Law

I’ve made the switch from tablets to cintiqs a few years ago and they’re great. If it’s true that this new and improved one can’t rotate that is a huge mis-step for wacom. As for the price- consider what we earn in a year and compare it to that. For me I’d say it’s well worth it to keep a tool that keeps me at the top of my game.

Ariel

The more we encourage people to begin their drawing days with a tablet, the more we’re bringing up people who can’t draw.

No wonder studio’s are having trouble finding real artists..

Dana G

A tablet is just a tool, same as pencil and paper. It doesn’t affect people’s ability to draw (or improve at drawing). Someone whose drawings are bad on a Cintiq will have terrible drawings on paper, too.

Steve Gattuso

“The more people using typewriters/word processors/computers, the more we’re bringing up people who can’t write.”

The same stale argument, same fallacy.

A poor workman blames his tools.

http://www.arielvillaverde.com Ariel

Good points.

I guess I’m just frustrated at the industry who continues to hire people that are good with “technology” but don’t really know how to draw. You ask them if they draw or paint or sculpt on the side, they go “no”.

And you can see they’re not so talented drawing with a Cintiq either. People automatically think because you own one, it makes their life so much better.

It doesn’t make “production” better.

http://kandjcomic.com/ John S

That was the price of the 21 when it came out in 2006.
It was worth every penny. However…my concern is the weight of the new one. NOt sure I’ll upgrade.

amid

It strikes me that those who complain about the price of the Cintiq inadvertently reveal more about themselves and where they’re at in their artistic career, than actually offering any valid criticism of the Cintiq’s price. The Cintiq is a slick piece of machinery that is reasonably priced, even at $2,500. A professional artist who freelances can earn back the cost of the machine with one week’s worth of work. And most animators I know who own one swear by it. It’s no problem if you can’t afford one, but it’s silly to complain about the price when thousands of professional artists who recognize its value are more than willing to pay for it at its current pricepoint.

http://www.johnoconnellillustration.com John O’Connell

The diligent hunter shall roast his game, as scripture sayeth. Where are these studios that can’ t find artists that can draw, I’d appreciate any referrals. Imagine Van Gogh on a cintiq, all the same visual principles without waiting for paint to dry. Check out Craig Mullins,http://www.goodbrush.com, everything traditional on steroids via digital. In the right hands it accelerates